A month after our dog was lost and we couldn’t find him for a time, we got a call telling us that the animal had been found but that something strange had happened.
We adopted Roy from a shelter when he was a puppy. He became a full member of the family after moving and getting divorced with us and growing up with my children. Every evening, he seemed to be waiting for me to come home from work by waiting for me at the gate.
One day the gate was open when I got home. Roy was gone. At first, we thought he had just taken a walk. After a few hours, panic strikes. We called every shelter and veterinary clinic, posted flyers, and conducted a neighborhood search.
There was no sign for a week. Then another. Keep quiet. The kids started asking questions that were hard to respond to. We were about to give up trying to locate him.
Almost.
A month later, I got a call. A man on the other end said:
Which brown labrador do you own that has a white patch on its chest? Is that right?
Yes. How did you learn about it? Have you found our dog yet?
The refuge on the outside is well worth a visit. But something strange is taking place.
My heart almost stopped. I quickly got into the car and drove to the designated location, where I saw that Roy was 800 kilometers away from us, in a different city, with a stranger’s collar and a new name. The dog was brought by a couple who said they had found him in the wild.
But Roy recognized me at once; he leaped, screamed, and threw himself into my arms as if we had never been apart.
Later, it was found that these “finders” were criminals who targeted the stealing of purebred dogs. They were captured.
They tried to sell our dog for a few thousand dollars, but Roy bit everyone and wouldn’t let anyone near him. The burglars then decided it was useless to cope with the dog and took him to the vet.
Roy, too? He’s back with us. He now delivers a lot of hugs every day and wears a GPS on his collar.
